Dope dope dope! Finally dropping, the first Shook mag of the year has come through for us – appropriately timed and titled The Great British issue. Seriously I get way too over-excited every time a new issue drops, in fact you can read my full rant here, left over from the South Africa themed edition in October.
So I might be a little biased, having covered Awk Mo family and friends who make an appearance in this one, including Michael Chandler for Stay Sailing, The Electrikal crew out of Edinburgh, Hoya:Hoya spearheaded by the don that is Illum Sphere and the privilege of writing on Firecracker Records, the unedited version of which we’ll be housing on this site in the coming months.
In all seriousness no one can touch this mag. I’ve no qualms about saying it’s been the lifeblood of the underground scene since editor Jez put himself out there with it’s inception, and for that he did I’m certainly thankful.
From my days working at a major publishers I remember the rule that more people will read what you write if it goes online, but the care that goes in to getting the physical mag out means it carries more weight than anything written in cyberspace (current page included).
Still waiting for mine in the post – but if your digitally inclined you can preview the whole thing below, embedded along with the press release for the mag.
via Shook.fm
Poor old Blighty, hanging on to the memories of former glories like a beauty queen grown old, still thinking itself a sight to behold even though the eyes of the world are turned elsewhere. As it sells off its family heirlooms like the Welfare State to pay for one last blow-out, it desperately needs new inspiration. In this UK issue of SHOOK, we examine just what makes Britain great.
SHK10 tracks down the prodigal son, DJ Milo, who talks about the Wild Bunch sound system – the test laboratory for Massive Attack and ‘the Bristol Sound’; we celebrate the original pirate station turned legal Kiss FM, as we speak to many of the DJs from the station. We chat exclusively with Keith Mansfield whose music has been used by Dangermouse, Quentin Tarantino and Des Lynham. Bass is the place as we hear Mala reminisce about Metalheadz and DMZ, and we sit down with Sticky, the man who made Ms. Dynamite say Booo! We run down our survey of the UK’s record shops – from buying northern soul in Blackburn to reggae in Tottenham; and include stories on Queen of Lovers Rock, Carroll Thompson, Brit funkers Cymande and the very special United Vibrations; as well as teaching you how to run a record label, with Firecracker, RAMP Recordings and First Word. Plus we meet the new techno visionaries like Sei A and Wbeeza, and live it up in the Northern Quarter with Mr. Scruff, Graham Massey, Maddslinky and Hoya:Hoya.
This is a guided tour of the UK taking in the spots that most other tour guides will drive right past, so strap in, hold on tight and don’t lean your head out the window.
Get your copy in our store or look out for copies on sale in independent newsagents, all good record stores, as well as select bookshops and galleries internationally.
FLICK THROUGH SHOOK 10